Vicissitude
by celestieuse
Summary: It wasn't that Adrien Agreste hadn't noticed his classmate sitting behind him- he just hadn't had the time to get to know her. But Chat Noir did. Chat Noir found Marinette Dupain-Cheng absolutely fascinating. [Or, the story of how a cat fell in love with two sides of the same coin.]


Chat Noir cut through the air like a knife. In the midnight glow, he bounded from rooftop to rooftop, accelerating in between. With each landing, his bones cried out- but he couldn't stop. Not yet.

The night was too quiet, too peaceful. In the spaces between rooftops, he longed for an attack- anything to get his mind off of Marinette, Ladybug, and his _damn father._

He needed a distraction.

A few insomniacs roamed the streets, waving up at Paris's favorite sidekick as he flew past. Some were too happy to be akumatized. Most were too tired. Some even looked up and frowned, as if to ask, _where is Ladybug? Isn't your rightful place by her side? You're useless on your own, anyways. You can't purify akumas, you can't repair any of the damage. All you give Ladybug is your misfortune._

With each malicious thought, Chat Noir ran faster.

He didn't notice Notre Dame until he stopped in front of it, short pants for breath escaping his lips in tiny puffs of steam. The windows were bright, drawing Chat in with their promise of comfort. The cathedral was a regular stop on the nightly patrol, but he rarely gave it much attention. It seemed protected enough on its own. Tonight, however, he slowed, pausing in front of the center doors and looking up at the tower above.

Heights did not bother him. He had sat many nights on the top of the Eiffel Tower, dangling his legs off the edge, making friendly chatter with Ladybug in the moonlight. But he had never dared venture onto the church roof. It was probably too risky in the daylight, anyways. Too sacred of a place to desecrate with his bad luck. Now, he supposed he needed it; guidance and forgiveness rested between the church walls. Giving the church a small bit of bad luck was a risk Chat Noir was willing to take.

Using his baton to help him vault higher, Paris's favorite sidekick began to fly, landing on a lower portion of the roof just long enough to rebound to the top of the tower. His miraculous hadn't beeped, but he knew Plagg was getting tired- each jump had brought him just a bit lower than the last, and the thought of _trying_ to use cataclysm made him nervous. Landing gracefully, Chat Noir released his transformation.

A sharp breeze blew through Adrien's bones as he carefully sat down, making sure his still-aching limbs didn't let him tumble onto the ground below. Lights glittered across the river, twinkling like stars that had fallen from the sky. Paris grew darker by the minute; one by one, even the sleepless turned off their lights. He had never seen his home in quite the same way. It was just like when he and Ladybug-

Adrien's reverie was cut short when he felt a small weight collapse onto his shoulder.

"This is the end," a small voice groaned. "I can't go on like this."

The boy chucked, sneaking another look at the city before reaching into his bag.

"Eat up, Plagg," he muttered, unwrapping a slightly mushy wedge of camembert and placing it on the roof next to him. "You still have to get me off of this roof, or Chat Noir might have to take a leave of absence."

"Remind me again why you decided to come up here?" the kwami asked, his annoyance managing to find its way past the cheese. "You weren't even done with your patrol."

"I needed to think," Adrien replied, turning back towards the night.

"You can't avoid Ladybug forever."

"I'm not avoiding Ladybug, I'm proving that I don't need her to be a superhero. You know how they always call us her sidekick." he paused, looking over his shoulder at the small kwami. "I'm defending our honor."

"You're lovesick, that's what you are," Plagg grumbled into his camembert. "For both of them."

Somewhere on the other side of the riverbed, Ladybug was probably nearing the end of her patrol route. She would likely find a roof to look at the night from before returning to civilian life, though he doubted she would ever drop her transformation as he had. The air was too cold. He doubted she would risk her kwami falling into hibernation just to feel the breeze.

He could hear Ladybug's last words to him as if she was standing next to him. Was this not what he had always wanted? A challenge, an invitation to finally find out who his most trusted partner was behind her mask? A quiet "find me" whispered in his ear, promising him access to her best-kept secret?  
He wished she could have said it earlier. He wished that his bad luck had not, for once, been quick to follow wherever Chat Noir went.

But she didn't, and Adrien felt worse than he ever had before.

Chat Noir had kissed Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She had kissed him back.

Ladybug had kissed Chat Noir. He had kissed her back.

(He didn't know what scared him more.)


End file.
